Sari Shyrack, a local Austin still life artist, is an advocate for this ideal. Just like any hobby or skill, practice makes perfect. Sari approached her daily practice and work ethic to create in a way of running. When you want to run a half or full marathon you don't just go out the starting line without training and pushing yourself. The best way to learn to run is just to go out there and start, you set a few goals to pace yourself and hopeful come to a point where you can look back and see improvement and the efforts of your labor.
Sari expressed that if you create at least once a day that you're not only providing yourself with a creative outlet but you're also giving yourself permission to just create. Sari isn't expressing that you are expected to create a masterpiece everyday - her daily painting are not always productive and not always a full piece. "The more I create, the more creativity I invite in", Sari shared when reflecting upon her artistic process over the years.
"What makes someone an artist?"
Someone may take the time to ponder and provide a well thought out response to this question, but for Sari (and certainly other creatives), getting asked this question is less than desirable. Why? Simply put, there is not one thing that truly defines or classifies someone as an artist. There is more power in calling yourself an artist than attempting to tick off all the boxes defined by critics, society, or history. Artists and creatives can be their own worst critic; they scrutinize their work, pull it apart and pick at the flaws as if their eyes were a magnifying glass that discovered something out of place.
Sari's perspective and practice on daily creations tends to lean more towards quantity than quality. This isn't to say she it trying to sell work she deems as sub-par but rather the time she put into the work doesn't reflect or live up to the composition she imagined. The more she creates, the more her style is defined.
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